Basketball season is in full swing! The Virginia Tech Hokies are seated 8th in the ACC conference. Currently they sit at 5-1 overall record with their only loss against Texas A&M, which was a nail biter to say the least. The Hokies ended in defeat at a 68-65 score.
So what is in store for them in this week? Tech will face off against Michigan this Wednesday in Ann Arbor at 7pm. Michigan started the season ranked 25 but has since then dropped off the chart last week when they lost 46-61 against now the number 20th ranked team, South Carolina. The Wolverines are also a 5-1 team, but have been off to a slow start during their recent games.
Who to watch out for? Zak Irvin and Derrick Walton Junior are two power house seniors that are a threat to the Hokies. They both saw about 40 minutes on the court and reached double digits in scoring, Irvin (14) and Walton (12). Other platers to pay attention to are Abdur-Rahkman, a guard and Wagner, a dominating forward. The Wolverines have a 34.4 percent offensive rebounding percentage and had shot 40% from beyond the arc, while the Hokies have shot 44 percent 3-pointer rate.
Hokie Strengths: Tech Transfer Zach LeDay led the team with 19 points against Nebraska last Sunday and in rebounds, with a solid 9. He played for 34 minutes along teammate, Ahmed Hill. Seth Allen was 2 for 2 at his free throw attempts and had four assists. They are cleaning up well during their matches and hopefully the fire will continue.
Previous match-ups: In 1974 the two teams met in the Semi-Finals of the NCAA tournament with Michigan coming on top with a final score of 68-65. Since then, the two have not met until this year. Virginia Tech is the only big out of conference match up for Michigan in the 2016 season. NCAA tries to pit teams against one another that have similar expectation for the upcoming season and this year it happened to be these two entities. Last year the Hokies were ranked one spot above the kenpom.com charts. However, the Wolverines made it into the NCAA tournament and the Hokies did not. Nevertheless, this will be a very interesting matchup.
Tune into ESPNU Wednesday at 7pm to see who comes away with the win!
